Tony DiNozzo, still wincing from the sharp pain in his side, leaned against the wreckage of a car, trying to steady his breathing. The assignment had gone south faster than he'd anticipated, and now he was left with a nasty gash and a bruised ego to match. Gibbs of course called up for paramedics because Tony was too stubborn to do it himself.

A few moments later, the sound of footsteps approached, and Tony looked up to see a paramedic with a no-nonsense stride, carrying a bag filled with medical supplies. Her name, he recalled from the scene briefing, was Aurora. She knelt beside him, her eyes scanning his injuries with an expert gaze. But it was something else that caught Tony’s attention. Her presence seemed to command the space, a calm assurance that stood in stark contrast to the chaos around them. He could feel his heart skip a beat, and suddenly, the pain wasn’t so important anymore.

“You’re gonna be fine, Tony,” she said, as she expertly wrapped a bandage around his side. Her voice was smooth, calm, and comforting in a way he didn’t expect from someone in the middle of an intense situation. “But I’m gonna need you to stay still while I get this checked out, okay?”

But with her working on him, his focus wasn’t on the pain—it was on her. Her soft focus, the way her hair fell just so around her face, the effortless grace she had even in the chaos.

Aurora finished wrapping his wound, then looked him in the eye, her expression softening. “You’re lucky, DiNozzo. You could’ve gotten worse. Now let’s get you out of here.”

Tony’s grin deepened, but it wasn’t just the typical cocky charm. He was captivated—fully, completely. “I’m starting to think this whole being a hero thing is a lot more fun when I get to be saved by someone like you.”

As she helped him to his feet, Tony couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, being injured wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to him.